Social Realism in Transnational Cinema

Please note that this Summer School seminar will start on 01 June with weekly four-hour sessions.

Social realism is a mode of filmmaking that has profoundly influenced national cinemas across the globe. Its origins can be identified in the Italian neorealism of the 1940s-50s and in the British New Wave Cinema of the late 1950s-1960s. Social realism itself is hard to define since its styles, techniques and aesthetics can vary. By way of a loose working definition, social realism could be used to describe any film that employs a particular set of representational techniques that try to create an accurate and “unfiltered” image of regular people’s everyday lives and surroundings and that are used to deal with a particular set of themes, such as sociopolitical issues, the hardships of regular working-class people etc. Thus, social realism is more of a mode than a distinct genre.

In this Summer School seminar, we will explore the early traditions of social realist cinema, starting with Italian neorealism, the British New Wave and later versions of British social realism and “Brit Grit”. We will also look at social realism in US cinema from the 1980s to the 2020s, early-2000s French realism and the Romanian New Wave of the 21st century. The final list of films to be discussed in this class will be made available during the first session.

Students will learn about different traditions of filmmaking in their respective national cultural and historical contexts, to familiarise themselves with the necessary methods of film analysis and interpretation, to critically use film and cultural theory, and to critically understand and compare films from a wide range of international cinemas.

Suggested introductory reading:

David Forrest. Social Realism: Art, Nationhood and Politics. Cambridge Scholars, 2013.

Julia Hallam, Margaret Marshment. Realism and Popular Cinema. Manchester UP, 2000.

Samantha Lay. British Social Realism: From Documentary to Brit Grit. Wallflower Press, 2003.

Personal attendance during the first session is required to maintain enrolment status.
Please direct all your inquiries about vacancies to britlit.fragen.fk15tu-dortmundde.